It feels ridiculous to be writing haiku with summer kigo while the sky is leaden and there is a fire in the grate. The breezes mentioned have become winds off the cold southern ocean. I present them for Carpe Diem. They were not written with my head in summer while sitting in my woolies but I chose from a number of year’s summer night haiku. Hence the bush fire ones. I wrote them after devastating bush fires (in Victoria) that claimed too many lives and gutted too many communities.

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18 thoughts on “summer night”

First of all — the second haiku really touches my heart — it’s such a lovely image. Plus, it reminds me of tonight here in the US – we’re “between storms” and the sky is restless with that faint breeze in the night. Ahhh!

Second — the last poem breaks my heart. Remembering the bush fires — plus the fires that sweep through the American west every year. So much loss.

These are very powerful haiku. Those bushfires were so terrible – I lived between several major fires – the closest was 30k away – people I knew lost everything. I am still frightened when it’s bush fire season.

yes it is a trauma that leaves its mark. years ago we had a fire in our workshop (small screen-printing factory). I would wake up in the night for months unable to tell if the moonlight was red or not.

aloha Belinda. i find i write mostly within the season (or close to it) that i am in. however when i find a haiku, or one presents itself, or i’m called upon to write one “out of season”, i often draw upon memory. i have no problem with this because altho of course the traditional Japanese haiku is centered around the season during which it is written, it is clear that the seasons of the planet run the full gamut year round.

a little while ago i came across a view of the “Hawaii seasons” (only the traditional spring, summer, autumn winter seasons where i might add hurricane season and whale watching season) as being something like 1 month of winter, 2 months of autumn, 3 months of spring and 6 months of summer. or a variation on that. altho in winter i am hard pressed to find snow other than on the highest volcano tops. and there it may be found year round.

imo, write the season you feel. because it is exactly that season someplace on the planet.

my lover departs
on the first day of summer
frost with each step

or. . . . mixed seasons??

i find your digital work way fun. and funny, in that recently i’ve been doing more almost etegami-like drawing and haiku (or near haiku) as well. i havnt been posting them. i’m thinking i may when time becomes pressed for me over the next couple of months. if i’m still doing them at that time. . . .

i’ve been doing these recent works with the Zen Brush App which is one of my favored apps. altho i’ve been wanting to add a bit of color at times too. which i may do. still way cool on your work. aloha. rick

Hey Rick,
yes, I often write out of season too. I can easily imagine myself back in another time. No problem with that. I have found lately though, that I haven’t written much about my ‘now’ life. Writing sharpens my observational skills, and I really like that.
Our aboriginal peoples had a number of seasons too. yam digging season, storm season, horrible goddamn hot and humid season, etc. (I may have made that last one up)
I’d never heard the term etegami. how lovely! It reminds me a bit of a book I have, ‘More Things Like This’ defined as IMAGE + TEXT + HUMOR = MORE THINGS LIKE THIS. I do a number of ‘things like that’. actually a lot of my notebook pages would fit.
I’ll have to have a look at Zen Brush App. my haiga here was done with ‘Paper by FiftyThree’ App. I think It’s quite cheap but you really need to buy the brushes as well. (especially the watercolour one) I love playing with it though.
Cheers, B

ah. . . . wait. that has to be a real season. you wouldn’t seriously make up a season like that would you??

yeah etegami is essentially an informal postcard. with (usually simple) drawing and writing both altho it can be in a letter form as well. it’s informal because it was usually between friends and family and just a way to let each other know what was going on and how people were doing. as you can imagine it’s evolved and in the planet wide sense continuing to evolve. it doesn’t have to be haiku but it can be and often is. that’s the way I understand it.

More Things Like This sounds like fun.

I like the Zen Brush App for several reasons. it’s very simple yet has a great range of possibilities. I often use it alone but also take what I do in it into other apps as well. it does not have color. it is capable of an infinite number of values however. and the way the line works is special and like no other I’ve found altho others approximate it in different ways.

I have and like Paper 53. and a similar one My Sketch Paper. I bought everything for Paper 53 except the pencil. I used a stylus briefly when I first got my iPad. and I think there are some out there I’d like to try. but I found I really like using my finger. when I tire of that I might look into something else along the pencil line.

another I like is the Procreate App. it is sophisticated and can do a lot. and is not that difficult to learn. it is complex but can do a lot of things some of the major programs can do.

I also like the ArtStudio App. and use it quite a bit to bring other things into to finish off in some way. it has a lot in common with photoshop elements more so than the photoshop app (imo).

way cool on your husband and etegami. etegami excited me when I initially learned of the term a few years ago because I was already doing related things in my postal art (mail art) exploration.

Deborah Davidson or DosankoDebbie does or did miles of etegami. she had a news letter on it but is now not doing the news letter.

a year or two ago I was playing a lot in Carp Diem (which I think you are doing now too) and often used a postcard style for my image and haiku. Haiga. of course. I did 3 of the seasons that way (having missed the first one of winter as it took place before I discovered his blog).

some of the initial spring postcards I added to my cafepress shop. I didn’t add the summer and autumn cards altho I worked those in that way too.

mine are mostly digital and mostly done with the zen brush app for drawing. color added with ArtStudio or on my desktop iMac. I used a couple of other apps on some as well.

clicking them will get you larger views. (I’m not sending you there for sales, just to look, so disregard the $ aspect of the page).

my postal art postcards are paper and drawing/painting or mixed media. they are less etegami-like but fun to do when I was swapping postcards. you can see some of those on my dotcom. I won’t send that link here unless you want me to do so?? I know I’m probably going way over the top on this. I apologize if this has gotten to be tmi. I just get very excited about this stuff when I start talking about it.

does your husband have a blog? or place where he shows his work? I’d like to look if you (and he) wouldn’t mind sending me a link?

I love your raves Rick, so that’s ok.
I did find DosankoDebbie in my searches last night. lots of good info there. and I just went to your dot com. you are very prolific aren’t you! I had a quick look at your postal art. much more to see
my husband’s site is http://www.ervinjanek.com. he mostly works in photography but has a gallery of woodblocks and linocuts there too. he doesn’t blog.

Every season is a state of mind. I think there can be seasons of living; dating, newlyweds, first child etc. The weather is just an interpretation of space and time. Turn the season word on its’ head.

My family being involved with the volunteer fire service are well aware of other blazes that cost both lives and property. I wish we could move some of the weather around and give it to those areas in need.

I’d go on, but it is time for dinner. Thanks for stopping by and your help with my longer piece today (or your night). ~Jules